Moscow Court Issues Arrest Warrant For Navalny Associate

A Russian court has issued an arrest warrant for an associate of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny.

Moscow's Basmanny District Court placed Nikita Kulachenkov on a wanted list on April 30, saying he is suspected with "premeditated theft of an artwork."

In June, Kulachenkov and another Navalny associate, Georgy Alburov, were charged with stealing a picture that was painted on plywood and affixed to a fence in Vladimir, about 170 kilometers northeast of Moscow.

Investigators found the picture in Navalny's home last year, and Navalny said it was a gift from friends.

On April 14, a court in Vladimir found Alburov guilty of stealing the picture and sentenced him to 240 days of community service.

Kulachenkov's whereabouts is unknown.

Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin and a driving force behind street protests in 2011-12, has received two suspended sentences on theft convictions.

He denies wrongdoing, saying the cases against him and his associates are the Kremlin's revenge for his opposition activities.